1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display systems, and, in particular, to a display system especially well suited for operation in a convergence device system.
2. Description of Related Art
Achieving convergence of various information, entertainment and communications technologies has become a much sought-after goal. A highly visible example of this trend is the attempt to integrate computer technologies (such as, for example, personal computer technologies) with consumer/home electronics technologies (such as, for example, television technologies, video game technologies, video telephony, video disc technologies et cetera). It is hoped that one of the products of this convergence would be a single integrated device for information, entertainment and communications, which device can, at least in part, utilize the available communications bandwidth, mass storage and graphics handling capabilities of the personal computer (PC) to deliver, store and display a variety of applications so as to provide a seamlessly unified audio-visual environment to consumers.
In spite of many recent advances in this area, several problems persist. One of the more nettlesome difficulties relates to the presentation of quality 15 video on the display monitor associated with a PC, wherein the video signals are provided by a consumer/home electronics unit such as, for example, a receiver for TV signals, a video game unit, a video disc unit, and the like. It is known that PC display monitors, typically driven by the PC video signals (comprising three color signals--red, blue and green, and two sync signals--vertical and horizontal), often are not capable of displaying such high quality images as are expected from a consumer/home electronics unit when presented with video signals therefrom. In such situations, the displayed picture is usually of poor quality, beset with dullness and low contrast, among other problems. Part of the problem stems from the fact that PC display monitors are provided in general with display settings (such as contrast, brightness, color temperature, scanning width et cetera) that are different from the settings typically provided for monitors driven by composite video signals (e.g., TV signals). Some of the known technologies such as TV tuner cards plugged into a PC for processing incoming composite video signals do not offer a satisfactory solution insofar as the overall quality of the displayed images is concerned because, in part, these techniques do not provide for variable and selectable settings for display monitors.
Accordingly, based upon the foregoing, it should be understood and appreciated that there is a need for a display system, especially in a convergence-type device, that is capable of displaying both PC video signals as well as video signals from other sources with which a PC may be integrated. That is, it would be advantageous and desirable to provide a display system that is operable in multiple functional/display modes with selectable settings, depending upon the selection of the video sources. Although various display systems have been extant for sometime, no such system is known to have all of the advantages and novel features of the system described and claimed hereinbelow.